‘Cleaning Trauma’.
Four filmmaking teams will square off for the chance for $50,000 in funding and their documentary to be released through VICE at this year’s Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC).
This is the second year that VICE, Screen Australia and AIDC have run the documentary funding initiative, known as Pitch Australiana. It aims to provide provides early career Australian filmmakers an opportunity to collaborate with VICE in telling a story that speaks to communities, individuals, perspectives and subcultures that are overlooked or ignored in mainstream media.
This public pitching session will take place in front a panel that includes representatives from VICE, Screen Australia and the wider documentary community.
Last year’s winner was director Inday Ford and producer Dylan Blowan’s Shooting Cats: Australia’s War on Feral Cats, an ob doc that explores the catastrophic impact feral cats have on Australian wildlife and the complexities environmentalists face in their attempt to find solutions to this epidemic.
The winning documentary will be released online as part of VICE’s documentary series Australiana, and be broadcast on SBS VICELAND
The finalists are:
Cleaning Trauma (VIC)
A confronting insight into the inner workings of Melbourne’s most successful trauma cleaning business.
Director: Lachlan McLeod
Producer: David Elliot-Jones
DOP: Louis Dai
General Hercules (QLD)
A gold prospector searches in isolation for his fortune in the desert outside of Kalgoorlie, while nearby a mix of locals and FIFO workers operate Australia’s largest open pit mine.
Director: Brodie Poole
Producer: Joe McLaren
Boxed In (VIC)
On the banks of the Murray River, an ex-cage fighter fronts the local drug epidemic head on by teaching kids at risk the discipline of Muay Thai Boxing.
Director: Natalie Nalesnyik
Producers: Philippa Campey & Samantha Dinning
DOP: Tim Metherall
Burlesque Blokes (NT/VIC)
Burlesque Blokes follows a group of erotic male performers as they navigate female fetishisation, blurred lines of consent and group line dancing.
Director: Isaac Elliott
Producer & DOP: Lucy Knox
This live pitch session will take place on March 4 at ACMI. Entrance to watch Pitch Australiana will be free and open to the public.